Decisions on spotting scope

[mike stoick]

Hello everyone and early thanks for the advice. I am looking for a spotting scope mainly to be used in the mountains of Montana. My budget is about 2k and I also wear glasses. What are the scopes i should look at and what are the ones i should avoid. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[realunlucky]

https://www.rokslide.com/forums/thr...share_tid=123520&share_fid=45046&share_type=t

This is the one right here! Great price on the S2. Only down side is wieght you won't touch the glass quality without spending a bunch more and even then it'll only be a slight gain.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

We just posted Meopta MeoStar 82 HD Spotter with 20-70x Eyepiece only $1,999.99 which for under $2,000.00 is absolutely the finest spotter.

In a small unit the best is the Kowa TSN-553 and TSN-554

Please, if you have the time, give us a call, 516-217-1000, to discuss what is best for you
Doug

 

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

Coming from someone who gets to use most of the best spotters, I would start with these 3. Definitely not the only ones, but these are my favorites:

1 Swaro ATS 65 w/ 25-50 wide angle -lightweight, and great glass, very comfortable viewing.

2 Kowa 77mm Best glass per oz. perfect weight/size/performance for most backcountry hunters

3 Kowa 55mm A bit spendy for a smaller scope but perfect for ounce counters

rob

 

[wannakillabigbull]

I would be hesitant to consider the Kowa 55 in your instance. As stated you wear glasses. If you're at all eye relief sensitive you need to be careful. Try the Kowa 55 out before buying to ensure if works for you.

 

[zeroforhire]

If the kowa 55 works for you, I recommend it. It is very close to my friends swaro 65 but way lighter.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

I would be hesitant to consider the Kowa 55 in your instance. As stated you wear glasses. If you're at all eye relief sensitive you need to be careful. Try the Kowa 55 out before buying to ensure if works for you.

This is true for anyone really. With the short eye relief you need to be pretty darn precise with your eye placement behind the eyepiece. The glass is darn good for its size tho!

 

[mike stoick]

Thank you for all the responses so quick. Is there any concern with longevity with the Kowa? I looked on their website and they state only a 10 year warranty when most others have lifetime.

 

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

Swarovski's warranty is 10 years now too. Build quality on both is fantastic. If i had to give an edge to one or the other, i would say the Swaro is better. My 2 year old Kowa 77mm has been through hell and back and still as good as new.

 

[JaredJ]

Take a look at Leupold gold ring spotters. They have great eye relief for anyone with glasses, the scope is good quality. Not is the same league with Swarovski, Leica or Ziess, however is it a good spotter.

 

[tdhanses]

I would be hesitant to consider the Kowa 55 in your instance. As stated you wear glasses. If you're at all eye relief sensitive you need to be careful. Try the Kowa 55 out before buying to ensure if works for you.

I wear glasses and own the Kowa 55, no issue I’ve noticed that bothers me with the eye relief.

 

[notchfir3]

bought a new Leupold Kenai. It comes with a varible lens that goes out to 60x power and a fixed 30x wide angle. The 60x sees 22 cal bullet holes including the ones in the black at 200yds. The 30x wide made it easy to search a hill side with even leaves in great detail. Regards

 

[theoutdoorsman]

Does your budget inlude the cost of a tripod and head? If not go for a 65mm swaro/leica on the used market. If it does that maybe a vortex razor 65mm with a quality tripod

 

[catorres1]

Just a suggestion, the fact you wear glasses is really important. I do too. Some people's eyes are not very deep set, so the glasses are not as much of a problem in terms of eye relief. Others, like myself, have deep set eye, so they are actually quite a distance from the lenses of my glasses, and as I have a lot of astigmatism, running without the glasses is not an option.

So what I found is that I had to go and look hands on at what I wanted to buy to see if they would fit me personally. You can't even depend on their 'eye relief' numbers to make a comparison because they all seem to measure from a different point. Definitely recommend that you try before you buy.

I will say that, in terms of eye relief, the Leupold GR's had the most, but I was not overwhelmed with the glass so I passed on those. Of the others I tried, Razors were way too short, Swaro's, Leica's and some Zeiss were kind of in the middle. The Meopta/Cabelas Euro were the best for eye relief.